Translation by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
King Stephen was a worthy peer
Language: English after the English
King Stephen [was]1 a worthy peer, His breeches cost him but a crown; He held them sixpence all too dear, With that he called the tailor lown. He was a wight of high renown. And thou art but of low degree: 'Tis pride that pulls the country down; Then take thine auld cloak about thee.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 in some versions of Shakespeare, "was and"
Text Authorship:
- by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, Act II, Scene 3 [an adaptation] [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , Scottish ballad
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Elizabeth Maconchy (1907 - 1994), "King Stephen", 1965 [ voice and piano ], from Four Shakespeare Songs, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (1890 - 1960) ; composed by Georgiy Vasil'yevich Sviridov.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo) , no title
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo) , no title
Researcher for this page: Maurice Hodges
This text was added to the website: 2007-08-17
Line count: 8
Word count: 55